Looking at Teresa Nielsen-Hayden's thoughts on the election from their weblog Making Light has made me feel a little better. As usual with (P|T)NH writing, the emotional is stripped out and the pragmatic focused upon. Interesting discussion of the tools of democracy. A quote I like:

Get real, vote real. If you want to make changes happen, you have to get your guys elected. Deciding the whole system is corrupt so why bother, and/or casting symbolic votes and protest votes for non-starter candidates, is like wasting your ammunition on symbolic volleys that don't hit anything. The other side won't be impressed, and they'll still be aiming their own shots at you.